spaces between

we received a mail from hannah last night. it was a lengthy and seemingly impossible-to-accomplish list of her requirements for our thursday presentation to the council. we had tried to negotiate the list with her but she insisted.

we left early for kwa thema, 7:45am, to document our surprise individual project requirements for the presentation.

i walked the green tracts of land between the beerhall and the chess park in order to document the use of open green space. the vast open tracts of land were scattered with billboards. the intrinsic movement of people, water and vehicles carved dry, dusty ribbons into the landscape. it appeared people had claimed bits of open land for themselves – demarcated with glary white rocks, distinguished with manicured grass. entrepreneurs crowded the spaces with endless carwashes. on every corner of every space was a dumping ground – household waste, building rubble, nappies, rats, tyres, burnt patches of ash and cinders.

we returned to johannesburg quickly to spend hours on the beerhall.